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Tiny UNESCO World Heriatge Site in the river! https://youtu.be/lem-XyDX1Y0
How to Plan and Book the Kumano Kodo Trail: https://youtu.be/fQhgmF6rJEY
Experience: traditional boat ride on Kumano-gawa river. Part of the Kumano Kodo: https://youtu.be/ZCvXRfka16g
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#onsen
00:00 intro
00:18 what is an onsen?
00:55 Yonumine
01:03 Tsuboyu bath
01:23 cooking eggs!
01:37 the ryokan
02:05 room tour
02:09 Fun Fact!
03:20 our private bath
03:45 the public baths
05:01 dinner one
07:54 breakfast one
08:24 hike to Hongu
08:42 dinner two
09:47 breakfast two
10:17 traditional boat ride
“Onsen” is the Japanese word for “hot spring” —-or a resort town which features hot springs.
There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan and we’re in Yunomine Onsen located in a narrow, deep valley in the Kumano mountain range.
We just finished three days of hiking the UNESCO-inscribed Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route.
See our experience hiking the Kumano Kodo at the link above or below.
Yunomine is considered one of the oldest thermal spring systems in Japan, and the Tsuboyu bath is here, also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Please subscribe and you’ll be notified when I post a complete tour of this tiny two-person bath.
The main hot spring here is used as a public community cooking basin and you can buy eggs and vegetables in a net to cook in the 90 degree centigrade water.
One of the finest accommodations in Yunomine is Ryokan Adumaya and we spent two nights here.
A ryokan is a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features tatami-matted rooms and communal baths.
FUN FACT: Ryokan have existed since the eighth century A.D. when the oldest hotel in the world was created in Japan in 705 A.D.
When we arrive at Adumaya, the names of all guests arriving that day are hanging outside the entrance.
The entryway is where you take off your shoes and select a pair of slippers.
There are twenty-two rooms here and ours was number five called “Ichii”.
There are two living spaces which are converted into bedrooms each night.
At Adumaya, there are four rooms which have their own private bath, each getting it’s hot water from the spring right across the street.
There are also four public bathing spaces, two outdoor and two indoor. The baths are clearly marked as each gender gets one indoor and one outdoor until midnight. That’s when the banners are swapped and you can check out the other two baths.
Yeah, this doesn’t suck…
After bathing, we head back to the room and our attendant is setting the dinner table.
There were so many small dishes and plates that it really was a lot of work for our skilled attendant.
The meals here were fantastic, especially the first night’s dinner. It was kaiseki style which is a traditional Japanese menu whereby the foods are prepared in a variety of ways. For instance, you might get a boiled dish, a vinegar dish, a grilled dish, etc.
The meat eaters in our group all agreed: the highlight of the meal was the locally-grown Mi-Kumano beef shabu-shabu. It melted in your mouth like buttuh!
After dinner, our busy room attendant converted the dining space into sleeping space.
Breakfast in Japan is traditionally a savory affair, not sweet and syrupy.
After breakfast, our shoes were waiting for us at the front entry of the inn.
We hiked up and over the mountain to see Kumano Hongu Taisha and the nearby gigantic Torii or gate.
Dinner that evening was another fantastic feast.
After breakfast, we finished our Kumano Kodo trek with a traditional boat ride down the Kumano river. See that video at the link above or below.
Please post any comments or questions below. Thanks for watching and —-bon voyage!